Improved weak plates foe the soles and heels of boots and shoes



J. GRAY.

- WEAR PLATES FOR THE SOLES A-ND HEELS 0F BOOTS AND SHOES.

Patented Jan. 1, 1867.

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JOHN GRAY, OF EAST AURORA, NEW YORK.

Letters Patent No. 60,719, dated January 1, 1867.

IMPROVED PLATES FOR THE SOLES AND HEELS 0E BOOTS AND SHOES.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN Be it known that I, JOHN GRAY, -of East Aurora, in the county of Erie, and State of New York, have invented a new and improved Wear Plate for the Soles and Heels of Boots and Shoes; and I hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in whichf Figure 1 is a view of the sole or bottom of a boot or shoe, with a portion of the leather removed, to show the mode of applying my improvement thereto.

Figure 2is a. Section of a portion of the sole of a shoe, through my improved wear plate; and Figures 3 and 4 are perspective views of the plates, adapted to different parts of the sole, shown detached therefrom.

Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all of the figures. Y The object of my invention is to supply a guard or shield of durable metal to protect those parts of the heel or sole of boots and shoes which are most exposed, from the rapid wear to which they are subjected; and

the invention consists in a peculiarly-formed plate or piece having a rim or flange curved to fit the part to which it is applied, (or which may be so curved or bent in affixing it,) and provided with a perforated web, by which it is secured by nailing, pegging, or sewing, by whichever-way the boot or shoe is manufactured, so that the means of fastening are concealed, and, only the rim or wearing edge exposed to view. It is well known that thebottoms of boots and shoes wear unequally with different persons, some wearing most upon the outer and some on the inner side of the foot, and others most at the'heel, while in some cases the wear is greatest at the toe. The part subject to the greatest wearis'in'a short time so much injured that the stitches or pegs fail to ,holdtogether the several layers of which the sole or heel is composed, making repairs necessary, while the symmetry and beauty of the article are chiefly destroyed. Various devices have been employed to remedy this defect, and have failed,

mainly for want of a simple and efi'ectual mode of fastening, the plates being usually applied to the surface or outside of the part, or sunk therein by removing a portion of the leather sole, and made fast by screws, or other like means, which, from the wear to which they are subject, in time become loose and fail to retain the plate in its position. In my improvement the plate is atlixed between the soles or thicknesses of leather, in the process of manufacture, by the same means bywhich those thicknesses are secured together, so as to become a part of the sole or shoe itself; while externally it presents a metallicedge corresponding with that of the {sole or heel, and of equal height or thickness, so as to secure the adjacent leather from wearing away, and thereby preserving not only the leather but its own means of fastening for a long period.

As represented in the drawings, A is the bottom of a shoe or boot provided with the several plates, b b I)" These plates consist of an outer rim or flange, 0, having a thin web, 01, projecting inwardly on a plane with its lower surface. This web is perforated with one or more series of holes, as shown, at a suitable distance from the rim 0, and at intervals corresponding with the distance between the nails or pegs, or the length of the stitches used in fastening the soles or layers of the heel together. In making the shoe, before the last sole, or ifthe heel, .the last lift is attached, the position of the wear plate having been determined, the edge is cut away for the width of the. rim 0, and the under surface is also pared down sufficiently to receive the thickness of the web 01, when the nailing or pegging proceeds in the usual manner, a line of pegs or nails passing through the outer sole, the web of the plate, and into the inner"sole,'as shown most-clearly in fig. 2. The nailswor, pegs being usually driven by marks made on the surface by a tool called the marker, no difliculty is experienced in having them so driven as to enter the perforations in the web designed for them, provided the instrument is set over one of the perforations in starting it. To'avoid errors in this respect, one or more lines corresponding with the position of the holes may be marked on the upper surface of the rim, as seen in fig. 3. The plates may be made of malleable cast iron in a cheap and convenient manner, or of brass, copper, steel, or other suitable metal, and it will readily be seen that their form and hardness will entirely protect the adjacent leather, and particularly the seam, fromwear.

, that I claim as my invention is the web or flange (I, provided with a continuous series of perforations, in combination with the corresponding guide-marks of the rim 0, constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In witness whereof I havehereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN GRAY,

Witnesses:

r J Fansnn,

Jaime G. Baown. 

